3Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion;
         He will comfort all her waste places.
         And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
         And her desert like the garden of the LORD;
         Joy and gladness will be found in her,
         Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

4“Pay attention to Me, O My people,
         And give ear to Me, O My nation;
         For a law will go forth from Me,
         And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

5“My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
         And My arms will judge the peoples;
         The coastlands will wait for Me,
         And for My arm they will wait expectantly.

6“Lift up your eyes to the sky,
         Then look to the earth beneath;
         For the sky will vanish like smoke,
         And the earth will wear out like a garment
         And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
         But My salvation will be forever,
         And My righteousness will not wane.

7“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
         A people in whose heart is My law;
         Do not fear the reproach of man,
         Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

8“For the moth will eat them like a garment,
         And the grub will eat them like wool.
         But My righteousness will be forever,
         And My salvation to all generations.”

9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD;
         Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
         Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
         Who pierced the dragon?

10Was it not You who dried up the sea,
         The waters of the great deep;
         Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
         For the redeemed to cross over?

11So the ransomed of the LORD will return
         And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
         And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
         They will obtain gladness and joy,
         And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12“I, even I, am He who comforts you.
         Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
         And of the son of man who is made like grass,

13That you have forgotten the LORD your Maker,
         Who stretched out the heavens
         And laid the foundations of the earth,
         That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
         As he makes ready to destroy?
         But where is the fury of the oppressor?

14“The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. 15“For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the LORD of hosts is His name). 16“I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

17Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,
         You who have drunk from the LORD’S hand the cup of His anger;
         The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

18There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
         Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

19These two things have befallen you;
         Who will mourn for you?
         The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
         How shall I comfort you?

20Your sons have fainted,
         They lie helpless at the head of every street,
         Like an antelope in a net,
         Full of the wrath of the LORD,
         The rebuke of your God.

21Therefore, please hear this, you afflicted,
         Who are drunk, but not with wine:

22Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God
         Who contends for His people,
         “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling,
         The chalice of My anger;
         You will never drink it again.

23“I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
         Who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’
         You have even made your back like the ground
         And like the street for those who walk over it.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
For Jehovah hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.

Darby Bible Translation
For Jehovah shall comfort Zion, he shall comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah: gladness and joy shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of song.

English Revised Version
For the LORD hath comforted Zion: he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Webster's Bible Translation
For the LORD will comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

World English Bible
For Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Young's Literal Translation
For Jehovah hath comforted Zion, He hath comforted all her wastes, And He setteth her wilderness as Eden, And her desert as a garden of Jehovah, Joy, yea, gladness is found in her, Confession, and the voice of song.August 25 Morning
Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.--ISA 51:1. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.--None eye pitied thee but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, Live. He brought me up . . . out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 26. "I Called Him Alone and Blessed Him" (Isa. Li. 2).
"I called him alone and blessed him" (Isa. li. 2). When we were in the East we noticed the beautiful process of raising rice. The rice is sown on a morass of mud and water, ploughed up by great buffaloes, and after a few weeks it springs up and appears above the water with its beautiful pale green shoots. The seed has been sown very thickly and the plants are clustered together in great numbers, so that you can pull up a score at a single handful. But now comes the process of transplanting. He first …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Awakening of Zion
'Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.'--ISAIAH li. 9. 'Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.'--ISAIAH lii. 1. Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. His majestic figure, wrapped in a light veil of obscurity, fills the eye in all these later prophecies of Isaiah. It is sometimes clothed with divine power, sometimes girded with the towel of human weakness, sometimes …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Hearken and Look; Or, Encouragement for Believers
THE second verse contains my actual text. It is the argument by which faith is led to look for the blessings promised in the third verse. It is habitual with some persons to spy out the dark side of every question or fact: they fix their eyes upon the "waste places," and they study them till they know every ruin, and are familiar with the dragons and the owls. They sigh most dolorously that the former times were better than these, and that we have fallen upon most degenerate days. They speak of "shooting …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881

A Prospect of Revival
THE pedigree of God's chosen nation Israel may be traced back to one man and one woman--to Abraham and Sarah. Both of them were well stricken in years when the Lord called them, yet, in the fulfilment of his promise, he built up of their seed a great nation, which, for number, was comparable to the stars of heaven. Take heart, brethren; these things are written for our example and for our encouragement. His Church can never sink to so low an ebb that he cannot soon build her up again, nor in our …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

"Sing, O Heavens; and be Joyful, O Earth; for the Lord Hath Comforted his People. " -- Isaiah 49:13.
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." -- Isaiah 51:3. "Sing, O Heavens; and be joyful, O Earth; for the Lord hath comforted his people." -- Isaiah 49:13. A living, loving, lasting word, My listening ear believing heard, While bending down in prayer; Like a sweet breeze that none can stay, It passed …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Lii. Manna. Exodus xvi. 4.
I.--Manna like salvation, because undeserved. The people murmured at the very first difficulty. If they had been grateful they would have said, "The God who brought us out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea, will not allow us to die of hunger." But instead of this they accused Moses of being a murderer. And in answer to this God said, "I will rain bread from heaven." What an illustration of Romans v. 8. II.--Manna like salvation, because it saved the people from perishing. Nothing else would …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Early Battles
Six months of joyous service amongst the Welsh miners was cut short by a telegram announcing to the sisters the serious illness of Mrs. Lee. Taking the news to their Divisional Commander, they were instructed to Headquarters. It was found that the illness was due to shock. The income from investments of the little estate left by Mr. Lee had dwindled; it now had disappeared altogether. Captain Lucy faced the matter with her usual practical decision. 'Mother, darling, there are two ways out. Either …
Minnie L. Carpenter—The Angel Adjutant of "Twice Born Men"

Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

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